In Case of Emergency - I.C.E.

After the recent London bombings we've received several inquiries regarding a program called I.C.E., short for "In Case of Emergency". This program began in Europe and is continuing to develop. In its original and simplest form, persons with cell phones are encouraged to place an "ICE" entry into their phone book. The ICE number should be for someone who knows the cell phone owner's medical information. If the cell owner has an accident or acute illness and is unable to speak, emergency responders can check their cell phone for an "ICE" contact who can supply needed medical information.

In today's world, so many people have cell phones, that this simple program could prove extremely effective. The following information comes from the original ICE website.

Ice Advice

Follow these hints to get the best out of ICE:

Make sure the person whose name and number you are giving has agreed to be your ICE partner

Make sure your ICE partner has a list of people they should contact on your behalf - including your place of work

Make sure your ICE person's number is one that's easy to contact, for example a home number could be useless in an emergency if the person works full time

Make sure your ICE partner knows about any medical conditions that could affect your emergency treatment - for example allergies or current medication

Make sure if you are under 18, your ICE partner is a parent or guardian authorized to make decision on your behalf - for example if you need a life or death operation * Should you your preferred contact be deaf, then prefix the number with ICETEXT

FAQ's

Its a virus No its not - the email circulating is a hoax. You enter the number and details. If you download something you are not expecting then you do run the risk of a malicious item being received but that wouldn't need a preset entry to work and almost certainly would want to call a number of their choice in order for them to profit.

My phone doesn't show the callers name any more This will be because your ICE contact number is a duplicate entry of another contact in your phone book. If you have two numbers the same, your phone won't know which one to display so it will show just the number. You will need to delete one entry